BitTorrent Sync Enters Beta Phase

Bittorrent is taking its BitTorrent Sync file synchronization service into “beta”, from its earlier “alpha” phase. This effectively means that more people will have access to it, and that the software is now mature enough for a wide audience. BitTorrent Sync is specifically designed to synchronize an unlimited number of files between folders on different devices belonging to one or several users. BitTorrent does not host anything and users always provide the storage, which makes this a more “private” sharing option than other file storage/sharing services. The data is protected by a strong encryption.

Today’s announcement is also about the availability of Sync on Android. With this service, users can synchronize their media content (or anything else) to tablets, smartphones and all kinds of Android devices.

Sync is free to download and use, but BitTorrent has always told us that Premium features would come at some point. At the moment, the company is trying to gather market share, and since Sync is a rather compelling product which allows for a 100% private data sharing, it should be of interest to companies that don’t really trust the likes of Dropbox or Box that host files on their own servers. Finally, Sync users wouldn’t have to fear that their file sharing services would stop one day (the “Google Reader” shutdown has been traumatic for some users) – but I have to point out that they are responsible for data backups (which should be really easy with Sync).

At this point, BitTorrent has not discussed tangible monetization options, but it is clear that there is potential for specific companies that need to securely transfer a huge amount of data on a distributed network.